An escalation in Donbas crisis is necessary for the Ukrainian authorities to prolong the martial law in eastern parts of the country as well as postpone the presidential election in 2019, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin told reporters Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) An escalation in Donbas crisis is necessary for the Ukrainian authorities to prolong the martial law in eastern parts of the country as well as postpone the presidential election in 2019, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin told reporters Tuesday."The aggravation of the military situation in Donbas is necessary for the Ukrainian authorities to prolong the country's martial law as well as possibly postpone the election and restrict the right to vote for residents of certain regions of Ukraine," Pushilin said.
The next presidential election in Ukraine is scheduled for spring 2019.
The situation in the region aggravated after the November 25 Kerch Strait incident, when three ships of the Ukrainian Navy � Berdyansk, Nikopol, and Yany Kapu � breached the Russian border, entered Russian territorial waters that were temporarily closed, and began moving toward the Kerch Strait, which serves as the entrance into the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels and their crews were detained by Russia after failing to respond to a lawful demand to stop.
In response to the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree declaring martial law in several Ukrainian regions located near the Russian border, and the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Kerch Strati incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine. Putin also said the provocation could be linked to Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the presidential campaign, which is set to start in late December.
